For our second post in the series ‘Neat and over Gläce’, I took advantage of an invitation to dine with my good friends, Kevin and Karyn. The informal setting consisted of the collaborative preparation of Kevin’s rib-eye steaks, Karyn’s mushroom and red wine reduction, and my bringing of a bottle of Ron Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva (Exclusive Reserve) which I blindly chose as I left my house. I would later discover this to be the perfect diplomatic trifecta. As we prepared our modest feast on one of the last days of summer evenings, I briefly shared with Kevin and Karyn my intentions of having them experience Diplomático first ‘neat’ and later, over a Gläce Mariko sphere. I would take notes and later share their thoughts here with you. A little about Diplomático: Fittingly, Ron Diplomático begins the product description by talking about “sugar cane honeys”. Initially I thought these ‘honeys’ were a special part of the sugar cane, but I discovered that it is simply the way Diplomático chooses to describe and differentiate their spirit from the traditional ‘sugar cane’ starting point of most rums. As we would soon discover with our first sip of Diplomático from a brandy snifter, honeys is the perfect way to begin describing the Ron Diplomático experience. Kevin said: “This, I would come home and sip after work” Karyn’s thoughts were: “incredibly smooth, warm heat but no bite!” Ron Diplomático’s color in the snifter is of caramel and amber, reminiscent of a cognac with a sweet and inviting nose. Burying your nose deep into the snifter allows you to take in even more aroma yet it remains balanced and unobtrusive. The steaks were grilled to a medium / medium-rare and while they were allowed to rest, we embarked on the second portion of our tasting and draped 2oz of Diplomático over a single Mariko sphere resting atop a stemmed glass. This unorthodox serving was ideal in continuing with the spirit of Diplomático; following their juxtaposing of styles and tastes in order to find compromise in diplomacy. Diplomático’s message is one of bringing opposing viewpoints to the middle to share in a drink of their rum, but I assure you, there’s nothing average or middle of the road about this rum. The approach and nose from the open-top glass did the job in diffusing the aroma and scent present in the earlier nosing. This second approach was “almost neutral” said Karyn with the vanilla notes being accentuated. The finish was much shorter over Gläce Ice, with the feeling from Karyn that ‘the shorter finish is ideal for a feminine palate’. Kevin noted that neat allowed for a slower enjoyment, but ‘over Gläce Ice the drinking is much faster’! We sat down in the summer evening to enjoy our simple feast and chatted long into the night about all things life, liquor and love while smoking cigars and sipping on a snifter of Ron Diplomático to counterbalance the preamble of Fall in the cooling night.

Recently, I chatted with a friend about the robustness of each of our spirits collections. Yet we felt frustration when going to fix a drink and realizing we seem to be one ingredient short of what we needed.During those times, I often end up pouring a plain spirit over Gläce Ice.This inspired the idea of writing a series tasting various spirits neat and over Gläce. The differentiation of Gläce Ice versus ‘regular ice’ or ‘well ice’ is obvious to us, however, I also want to highlight the importance of having a consistent product embodying the characteristics of a deserving cooling component when enjoying something ‘on the rocks’.

For our fist post on the series ‘Neat and over Gläce’; we tasted Sagatiba Velha Esplêndida, a Cachaça. Cachaça is Brazilian aguardente (fire water) and has been produced in Brazil for over 400 years.The Velha (aged) that we tasted was aged 2 years in tropical wood casks and handcrafted from fresh sugar cane grown in the farmlands of Minas Gerais, Brazil.Although Sagatiba labels this cachaça as “Brazilian Rum”, it differs from rum in that cachaça is made from fresh sugar cane juice that is allowed to ferment and rum is distilled from molasses.

Neat: On the tongue: Up front heat, waking up the taste buds on the side of your tongue with a woody finish.The second and third nosing release new scents of smoke. The third sip is slightly less ‘hot’ yet leaves you with a residual smoky taste. Initially, this cachaça is not as sweet as your nose would have you anticipate upon nosing. Subsequent sips give way to more nutty flavors reminiscent of drinking a smoky and peaty whisky.

Over Gläce Ice: On the nose: In a crystal tumbler the approach revealed a sweet scent, albeit slightly subdued from the first impression experienced with the snifter nosing. The approach from the tumbler was crisp and fresh, as though smelling the earth after a tropical rain burst.

Taking a page from the master, Francesco Lafranconi, we followed his tasting technique by first tasting with our nose; then opening our mouths a bit and inhaling again through our nose for a ‘back of the throat’ taste. This second draw yielded a neat earthy taste which immediately gave the transformative essence of a humid climate.

After letting our pour of Sagatiba Velha‘rest’ a few minutes over G³, we tasted again.The smoky flavors remained, yet the heat of the neat pour was less intrusive and allowed the back of the tongue to experience the flavors without combating the early assault. After a few more minutes it remained smooth, maintaining its apricot color.Over Gläce the smoky flavor had a chance to shine through and the aftermath of a sip compared to taking a long draw from a medium bodied cigar.

We hope you will come back again as we continue tasting spirits and sharing our notes with you.If you would like to join and comment, you can now replicate a tasting experience since the spirit and the ice are finally consistent.